Tag to Phantoms
by Mysra
Summary: This is the rewritten and extended version of Phantom's tag. It was my first fic ever and I wanted to do it for some time. Pure Shep whump and no shipping. I thank all the readers who read the first version and commented. I fixed all issues and added a few things. Hope you enjoy. In respect of those that have read and reviewed the first version I decided to keep both posted.


Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or rights concerning Stargate.

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I thank all my readers for their continuing support. This is a thank you to all of you who have encouraged me to go on. I hope you enjoy the rewritten and finally betaed version.

Thanks Amy for holding my hand and fix my errors. It's great to have friend like you.

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Phantoms Tag

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John closed his eyes, feeling Teyla's warm hand in his. He squeezed her hand slightly to reassure her that he appreciated the contact. He took a deep breath, trying to relax further, secretly glad that Rodney had stopped his whining. He didn't need a reminder every five seconds of what he had done.

Suddenly, John felt bone tired. He opened his eyes again, taking in his friends. His gaze settled on Rodney again. God, he almost had killed his best friend, even if he wasn't willing to admit it just yet, Rodney was his best friend.

The thought of what the machine had done to their brains sent a cold shudder down John's spine. He hadn't even been aware of Rodney and he still couldn't see it. Every time he closed his eyes he was back in the dessert shooting at a Taliban. He took another breath, albeit shaky.

Teyla moved closer, settling against his side and finally John was able to relax, soaking in the warmth of the contact. They had survived and Rodney would recover quickly and that was what counted.

John closed his eyes for a moment. He blocked everything out, Carson moving around checking on his patients and talking to Ronon. Ronon was keeping watch anyway, so John could allow himself a moment of rest.

The next thing bleeding into his awareness was a hand pressed against his forehead. John's eyes snapped opened and he jumped in surprise to find Carson invading his personal space. He opened his mouth in protest, but quickly closed it again when the motion pulled at his abdomen sending hot white pain through him.

What the hell was going on? Had he fallen asleep and why did he hurt like hell suddenly?

"Sorry, Colonel," Carson's voice cut into John's musing and he tried to concentrate on the doc still being much to close for his liking. "You look a little pale, do you mind if I take your vitals?"

"M' fine," John mumbled, shaking his head to chase the doc off.

Carson's critical look told John that he wasn't very convincing. John had to admit that he felt like shit, but he wasn't willing to tell Carson that. The good doc had enough on his plate and John was sure he just had pulled a muscle or something, so he moved in his attempt to sit a little straighter; however the movement set his insides even more on fire.

John clamped his mouth shut to keep himself from crying out loud, the world swam before his eyes as he moved again trying to ease the pain. The new movement sent him over the edge; he couldn't hold the grunts back any longer. He felt himself tilt to the side as he wasn't able to keep himself up any longer.

He was aware of hands grabbing for him, the last thing he heard was Teyla calling his name, before he was thrown into painless darkness.

XOXOXOXOXO

Carson watched his friends settle, grateful that Rodney had finally stopped whining and tormenting Colonel Sheppard further. He was sure the Colonel made a far too good job on berating himself as it was. After taking a short break himself Carson got up again making another round to check on his patients.

He moved over to Rodney first and since Ronon sat close by at the cave entrance watching over them, he was his next stop.

"You okay doc?" he asked quietly.

Carson shook his head. "But I will be," he added quickly, checking the Satedan's wound before moving on to Kagan, it took him quite some time to check the young marine, but he was relived to see the boy was further improving. His gaze fell on Teyla and John, both asleep, watching them a cold feeling settled in his stomach, something was off.

Carson studied Teyla for a moment, but she seemed alright so far. Carson shook his head he just couldn't figure out what was bothering him. There was just something wrong with the sight before him. He slowly moved over, not willing to wake the two. He was still a few feet away when Teyla's eyes snapped opened. She smiled tiredly at Carson and the doc sighed.

"How do you feel, love?" he asked in a low voice as the Colonel was still asleep. Suddenly he realized what was wrong. By all means, Colonel Sheppard should have woken when Carson had moved over to them. They were on an alien planet and John was always on guard outside Atlantis.

Carson saw Teyla's gaze wander to John and a frown appear on her face. They exchanged a look and after quickly checking her wound to make sure no infection was setting in he moved over to John's side.

The Colonel still hadn't moved.

Carson looked the man over. He hadn't registered just how pale John was, there was virtually no color left in his face and a fine sheen of sweat was glistening on his forehead. There was a sudden change and the air was charged with tension. Ronon too had picked up that something was off and had stood up.

"He shot me," Rodney suddenly exclaimed. Carson turned to him and glared at the scientist who obviously hadn't picked up on the tension.

"Shut up, McKay," Ronon groused at the other man who had just woken. Rodney glared back, obviously peeved. Then looked over to where Carson crouched next to John. It took him a few moments to realize what was wrong with the picture.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked annoyed. "Sheppard," he yelled. "Wake up!" They waited a moment but nothing happened.

Carson studied John. Finally he caught on the small tremors running through the Colonel's body. How could he be cold? Pale, sweat, tremors, Carson listed the symptoms. Suddenly he shot the past few feet still separating them forward, not caring if the Colonel decked him for his sudden intrusion of his personal space. God, had he gone into shock?

"Ronon, please bring me my bag," he asked in a quiet, urgent tone, trying to keep his uprising panic at bay. For the first time the Colonel stirred, but not enough to calm Carson's worry.

"Stop being a drama queen," Rodney called loudly, but now with a hint of worry in his voice, too.

Carson ignored Rodney and started to check the Colonel out. He lifted his hand first and put it against John's forehead. His fear was confirmed when found the skin ice cold instead of warm, but still slick with sweat, when he pulled away Colonel Sheppard startled awake.

"Sorry, Colonel," Carson apologized. "You look a little pale, do you mind if I take your vitals?"

"M' fine," John mumbled, like always John declined to be helped, but attempted to straighten his sagged position. John's face turned grey and his features tensed with pain as he moved. Carson watched John shift again as if trying to get comfortable and with each movement his face grew tenser and somehow colorless.

"Colonel, are you hurt?" Carson asked concerned, something was wrong and it had to be more than simple shock over shooting his best friend. Carson settled his hand on John's arm to get his attention. He didn't get an answer though; instead John sagged again before tilting sideways with a grunt.

"John!" Teyla yelled and Carson grabbed for him, trying to ease John's descent and lay him flat on the ground.

"Colonel?" Carson asked, shaking John's shoulder, but nothing happened. He tried two more times, before deciding on shaking him with more force, rattling the man thoroughly. Finally he got a small reaction. The Colonel groaned and writhed once before stilling again.

Carson took John's wrist and felt for a pulse. It was way too fast and faint to be reassuring. He looked around, but found no blood. His breathing seemed labored.

"Come on, John, wake up," Carson said, shaking him again. "Teyla, did he get hurt somehow?" Teyla shook her head. "Teyla, you need to think. Did anything happen, where he could have gotten hurt?" he repeated with more force. Something was wrong and he needed to make sure he was on the right track.

Teyla closed her eyes a moment. "He needed to dive to the ground several times and was thrown a short distance when Major Lerner blew himself up, but he seemed unharmed," she finally said, opening her eyes again.

Carson eyes widened in shock, no one had told that little detail until now. "You should have said something," Carson grumbled angry at the unconscious man. Though he wasn't really angry with the Colonel, the man had probably not even realized that he needed help.

Carson just needed to find out what was wrong with him. Was he in shock from what he had seen and done today or was it a physical matter? Was it a delayed reaction to the Wraith device? He had clearly seen the discomfort in the Colonel's face. He had been in pain, but there had been no indication where the Colonel hurt.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Colonel Caldwell." The com burst into life starling everyone.

"Colonel Caldwell, this is Dr. Beckett, Colonel Sheppard just collapsed. I need you to beam us all to the infirmary immediately."

There was no response, but the group was engulfed in white light.

They appeared in the infirmary, medical personal from both Atlantis and the Daedalus already standing at attention. A flurry of activity burst into life as teams of two went for each team member they had been assigned to.

Carson concentrated on John. There was only one nurse to take care of him and Carson together as he hadn't been planned on. He looked up for a moment to see Dr. Cole making a beeline for him after helping settling Teyla on a bed.

Carson was aware that Ronon and Teyla's eyes were on them, while Rodney complained loudly about being _manhandled_.

"I'm fine," he stated. "Colonel Sheppard just collapsed. He went into shock. I just started to examine him. I need to get his clothes off." Carson started with the zipper of the vest, trying to pull it down.

"Carson, please," Cole said calmly. "Let us take care of him." She grabbed Carson's arm pulling him away. "Marie!" she called and the nurse immediately left Rodney's side.

"Hey, he shot me!" Rodney exclaimed, irritated to be left in the care of strangers while John got the VIP service and it was not as if he hadn't heard Carson's announcement that he was in shock, _please_.

"Rodney," Carson said angrily, getting up. He moved to the scientist's side, ready to care for his friend.

"What happened?" Dr. Cole asked and Carson's attention snapped back to her and Marie who was busy taking the Colonel's vitals.

"I can't really tell you. My best guess is that he slipped into shock from what happened today, which on the other hand is very unlikely giving the Colonel's mental strength. There are no obvious wounds though."

"Okay," Dr. Cole said, concentrating back in her attempt to find out what was going on. She carefully opened the vest and the upper part of his shirt to rub her knuckles over his sternum.

To Carson's dismay John didn't react at all.

Dr. Cole moved her hands over Colonel Sheppard's arms, legs and head, before turning him to look at his back with the help of the other nurse.

"BP 90 over 60, heart rate 120, breathing six and labored," Marie announced after a moment. She took a stethoscope and listen to John's lungs. "Breathing sounds on the left side are constricted."

"What's going on?" Ronon groused, fighting against the nurse holding him in the wheelchair. "Sit down, Ronon," Carson commanded turning back at Rodney. He needed a distraction. He started to prepare everything to get Rodney in surgery first. There were two OR's and Teyla could wait until Rodney's surgery was finished or until it was clear if John needed surgery. He took the syringe holding the sedatives for Rodney and emptied it in his IV port.

"Dr. Beckett?" Carson's head whipped around. Dr. Sing the Daedalus' medical chief stood next to him. He grabbed Carson's arm and started to pull him away.

"What?" Carson groused, freeing his arm.

"You need to be checked out, too," Sing answered softly.

"I just gave Rodney the sedatives for his surgery."

"It's a minor surgery, we can handle it," Dr. Sing pointed out.

"Hey," Rodney slurred, his head shooting from his pillow. "I vont Cason."

Carson looked around. Teyla was on her bed, sitting on the edge as far as possible, ready to jump down. Ronon was growling at the nurse trying to treat his arm. Only Kagan was out and for that matter not putting up a fight.

Carson suddenly realized that he was as ffected as everyone else. He stepped away from Rodney's bed to let the others take over. He had already lost one patient today, because the device had messed with his head and now he was over compensating.

He should have known. The Colonel, apart from himself, had been the only person without an obvious injury. Carson should have checked him out, just to make sure. He should have taken care of everyone, not only those that were obviously injured. He had failed his friend. He moved over to the empty bed next to Teyla. His eyes fixed on the Colonel surrounded by medical personal.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Two lines, ringer's lactate," Dr. Cole ordered. "We need to get his BP up."

"You want to put him on a gurney?" Someone asked.

"No, lets keep him as still as possible for now," she answered. "I need to check his torso, before we move him." She opened his shirt further. "Oh crap," she muttered after a moment and then just ripped the rest of.

"Cut his clothes off," she ordered, her hands traveled to his bare stomach. She started to put pressure on different places around a darkening spot on his left side, before testing the darkening part itself. What she found worried her; the darkening part was ridged and tight.

"BP is dropping 75 over 50, ox stat 92 and dropping," Marie announced, already starting further measures to counteract the rapid decline.

For the next few minutes Dr. Cole, Marie and several other medics worked around the Colonel attaching monitors and placing a nasal cannula to support his breathing, all under the watchful eyes of his team and Carson. Rodney was the only one missing the drama unfolding in front of them.

"Okay, let's get him on a gurney now," Dr Cole said. As soon as they had him situated she checked the leads to the various machines and IV's, before concentrating back on the bruising area. She paused a moment and let Marie give her the latest vitals which were still dropping.

Dr. Cole quickly looked at Carson and then wheeled John to the other end of the infirmary where another nurse had already started to pull a private curtain around a cubical.

"I need an intubation set and a chest tube, the Colonel's chest is filling with blood," Dr. Cole said in a low voice, not wanting the others to hear the order. The nurse nodded and left. Colonel Sheppard had severe internal damage and she had to stabilize him before operating on him.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Carson?" the fear in Teyla's voice unfroze the doc and he turned to her. Ronon stood next to her bed his eyes worried.

"What's going on?" Caldwell's voice came from the entrance of the infirmary. "I thought Colonel Sheppard was okay."

Carson took a deep breath, tearing his gaze from the cubical and turning around. "Ronon, Teyla let the people take care of you," he ordered his voice carrying the needed authority. "There is nothing we can do at the moment." He turned to Colonel Caldwell. "It looks like Colonel Sheppard got hurt in an explosion."

"What?" Caldwell asked confused. "I want a report."

"Not now, Colonel," Dr. Sing said entering the infirmary to get Rodney into the OR. "I'll give you the report as soon as we have everyone checked out and settled." His gaze stayed on Carson while he spoke.

"Very well," Caldwell said curtly, looked around and then left.

XOXOXOXOXO

Eerie silence reigned in the bigger part of the infirmary. Every person intent to hear what was going on in the small cubical, hiding their friend, teammate and leader. Barely a sound made it outside. The only constant was the much too fast beeping of a heart monitor.

Carson sat on his bed watching the curtain, perking up every time it moved. He too sported an IV now for being slightly dehydrated. Only once or twice had someone had emerged from the curtain to get something and then hurry back. Carson had no idea how much time had passed, but he was getting nervous.

Suddenly the curtain moved again and one of the docs finally emerged.

"What is going on?" Carson asked when the doc moved over to them.

"Okay, Teyla you ready," he asked, obviously intent on ignoring Carson's question.

"I am sorry, but I want to know what is going on, before you make me go to sleep." Teyla said, always the diplomat, still she sat up fully.

Carson slipped from his bed, spying the curtain move. A moment later Colonel Caldwell entered the infirmary, distracting Carson for a moment. His gaze snapped back to the curtain.

Dr. Cole emerged from the cubical, her face tense with worry. Her front was covered in blood and she was pulling off bloody gloves.

She threw the gloves into a waiting bin before moving on to the group obviously waiting for her.

"Colonel Caldwell," she greeted. "Thank you for coming down again. I know Dr. Sing said he would come up, but I thought it best to inform everyone at once."

Caldwell nodded, looking at her critically. "Dr. Weir called and I had to tell her that I have no idea what's wrong with her Military Commander other than he collapsed," he said. "I want an explanation." Dr. Cole smirked at Caldwell, obviously not very impressed. She turned to Carson.

"The Colonel collapsed because he's bleeding internally," she started to explain. "I can't tell you how it happened. I can only tell you that he must have been hit by something big. The bruise accompanying the bleeding is covering part of his lower left back and abdomen spreading all the way to his chest."

There was silence for a moment and the heart monitor could be heard again. This time however accompanied by a soft whooshing sound.

"What's that other sound?" Ronon asked a worried frown on his face.

"The Colonel is hooked up to a ventilator at the moment."

"Colonel Sheppard has a tear in his lung?" Carson asked shocked. That made no sense an injury like that would have been more prominent."

"No," Dr. Cole said quickly. "We made a scan and could narrow the area of the bleeding down. I believe that he has a tear in his spleen and left kidney. But it's hard to tell because of the amount of blood in his chest area. We had to insert a chest tube as the blood was starting to compromise his breathing."

Carson sat down heavily, listening to the extent of the injuries John had acquired.

"Our first priority is to get Colonel Sheppard stable enough to repair the damage." Dr. Cole turned to Teyla. "That's why I told the doc to finish you up, so that if we have him stable enough we can work simultaneously."

"I am sorry Dr. Cole for the inconvenience," Teyla answered.

Dr. Cole shook her head. "I can understand," she said. "We'll do what we can to save the Colonel," she added. "But we need you to follow our orders."

Teyla nodded once lying down again.

"How bad is it," Carson finally asked needing to know the truth.

Dr. Cole looked stricken, but something in her superiors face must have shown her it was better to fess up. "Colonel Sheppard slipped into a coma. He is losing blood faster than we can replace it. We only have a limited amount of full blood and want to wait with it as long as we can. So we have him on two lines of blood plasma and one line Ringer's lactate."

"Colonel Sheppard is in a coma?" Caldwell asked stunned. Teyla gasped and Ronon growled.

"I'm sorry, Carson. He stopped breathing shortly before we put him on the ventilator," Dr Cole said and Carson nodded.

"What does that mean?" Ronon asked irritated.

"It means that the Colonel is momentarily more dead than alive, but we do what we can to get him back. Now listen to the docs," Carson ordered, before taking his IV stand and move in the direction of John's part of the infirmary.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dr Cole asked.

"I'm going to see my patient!" Carson said, making it clear that this wasn't open for discussion. Dr. Cole nodded and followed him to John's side, leaving Caldwell, Teyla and Ronon behind.

XOXOXOXOXO

Carson gasped looking John over. He looked almost fragile hooked up to all the machines. He lifted the sheet covering him and was shocked for a moment at seeing the extent of the bruising. He felt around the bruise and then at the side.

"Vitals"

"BP 75 over 55, oxy 97, rate 95" Marie answered in their well-tuned practice.

Carson finished his exam. "We operate on him, as soon as the OR is available. We need more plasma and as much whole blood as we can get."

He lifted the bag filling with the fluids drained through the chest tube. It was too much. He checked the readouts and then took Colonel Sheppard's wrist to take his pulse the good old way.

"We can't wait, we have to open him up now and stop the bleeding. I want to take an X-Ray, maybe we can at least see a bit on it."

"I'll get everything ready," Cole said moving away.

Carson looked around and pulled a chair close to the bed. He settled down and took Colonel Sheppard's hand. He quietly talked to the unconscious man being kept alive by machines. Suddenly the machines started to blare and Carson shot up.

XOXOXOXOXO

Rodney woke with a start, panting hard. He blinked rapidly into the semi darkness, trying to shake the remnants of his nightmare. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, but the motion pulled on his side. He gasped and closed his eyes again riding out the pain.

He wondered why no one came to care for him. Probably they were still busy tending Colonel Sheppard.

"Thanks a lot," he groused under his breath. He was sure Sheppard had just played up being shocky, so he wouldn't have to sit with his team. That thought reminded Rodney of something. He quickly opened his eyes, moving his head. Teyla lay in the bed on his right, deep asleep and Ronon on the left. He lifted himself a little, before falling back down with a grunt the movement pulling at his side yet again.

They were still on the Daedalus and Rodney could still feel the aftereffect of being sedated. In his fuzzy state his feelings took over. He was exhausted and in pain and Sheppard made it impossible for him to sleep. Where the hell was the man anyway? He should be with his team, but he probably had gotten an extra room.

Rodney's anger intensified. Colonel Softy had collapsed over the shock of shooting his friends and was now getting the VIP treatment, while he had to endure Ronon's snoring.

Exhaustion quickly claimed Rodney and he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes Sheppard's cold eyes swam before them. Rodney tried to distract himself, thinking about the device.

He must have dosed off, because the next thing he was aware of were voices talking somewhere close by.

"How is he doc?" A voice Rodney identified as Caldwell asked.

He heard a sigh.

"We were able to repair the damage, but he lost a lot of blood," Carson's voice said. "We were barely able to put fluids into him fast enough."

"He coded twice and at the moment the only thing keeping him alive are the machines he's hooked up to," Dr. Cole's voice added.

Poor Kagan, Rodney thought, drifting in and out of sleep.

"How is the rest?"

"Ronon, Teyla and Rodney are on the mend, they will be as good as new in a week or two."

Rodney perked up for a moment wanting to hear about John.

"Kagan is out of the woods too, Dr. Sing did a fine job closing his wounds."

Rodney was confused; didn't they cover Kagan first thing? And if that wasn't Kagan, who had they been talking about?

Rodney thoughts slowed and after a moment he drifted off to sleep again.

XOXOXOXOXO

The next time Rodney woke he drifted into awareness, gently and a lot less painfully. It was very quiet around him and at first he kept his eyes closed. He mind felt fuzzy and sluggish. He dimly remembered waking up before and that there had been something important, but he just couldn't get his brain to move enough to remember.

The last time he had woken he had still been on the Daedalus, but from the different sounds and natural light filtering into his eyes he could tell they were back home. He wondered what happened to John, but he guessed the Colonel had been released to rest in his quarters.

"Hi, Teyla," Ronon's rough voice interrupted the peace and his musings.

"How is it going?"

"I and Rodney are getting better. Thank you. How are you doing?"

There was no answer and Rodney could firmly hear the Satedan smirk and shrug. The silence that followed was uncomfortable and Rodney felt a certain tension.

"How is John?" Teyla's voice was soft and almost scared.

Rodney turned his head around towards Teyla's voice. He suddenly remembered being angry at his friend and then wondering about something. "Why? What's wrong with him?" Rodney croaked and he wondered if his friends had understood him at all.

Teyla's head snapped to him.

"Rodney, it is good to see you awake," she said. "How are you feeling?"

Nice try, he thought. They want to change the topic.

"Sheppard shot me," he answered acerbically. "Where the hell is he anyway, is he still sulking?"

"Rodney!" Carson yelled from the other side of the infirmary. He quickly moved over.

"What?" the scientist asked irritated.

"Can I sit with Sheppard?" Ronon asked abruptly, ignoring Rodney.

Carson turned to him. "Not yet," he stated.

The Satedan grumbled angrily.

"Would you people give me a break?" Carson asked irritated. "You can sit with the Colonel as soon as he is out of recovery."

"How is he?" Teyla asked again.

Rodney felt utterly overwhelmed and confused.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Rodney realized how tired Carson looked.

"What do you remember?"

"I remember that John collapsed on the planet and someone telling us he was in shock."

Carson nodded.

"Yes, he collapsed, but not from shock," he made a short pause.

"So what's wrong with him?" the scientist asked.

"The Colonel was caught in an explosion."

Rodney's eyes widened.

"He didn't even have a scratch on him," he exclaimed.

"No, he didn't, but the force of the explosion must have knocked him into something, he has an impressive bruise on his left side."

"A bruise?" Rodney asked incredulous. "That's it?" He looked at Carson scornful. From Carson's face, however, there was more too it. So he quickly smoothed his face waiting for the shoe to drop.

"No, the bruise was just a result of the impact and the internal damage it caused."

Rodney swallowed. "Internal damage," he parroted.

"He had tears in his kidney, spleen and a small one in his liver."

Rodney paled. "But he is okay?"

"It's too early to say."

"What?" Rodney exclaimed.

"He was bleeding for quite some time and we only found the tear in the liver after we were back on Atlantis and could get a complete scan. We had to operate a second time."

"How bad is it?"

"He is in a coma, on full life support."

Rodney swallowed hard, he had expected to tease John and then laugh it off, but now, what now? "I wanna see him!"

"Listen people, for the last time, you cannot see him yet" Carson said exasperated.

"I know you're worried, but he'll be in recovery for at least another 8 hours. I'll allow you to sit with him later, but just one at a time and Rodney and Teyla, you still are on bed rest so no more that one hour at a time and you will stay in a wheelchair."

The team nodded, knowing better than to protest.

XOXOXOXOXO

_He felt heavy and tired, but at least his abdomen hurt considerably less than before. Breathing, however, seemed far more difficult that it should be. It took him a moment to realize that something was blocking his throat and it took all his willpower not to start gagging._

_He had been intubated often enough to know that fighting against it would make things worse. Experience still didn't stop him from panicking a little and his heart picked up speed as he wondered what was happening. He hated just being a passenger in his body. _

_He became aware of an alarm sounding next to him. _

_He thought about opening his eyes and figure out what was going on, but he felt already too exhausted. He hadn't even been fully awake. He had to be in a bad way; with that thought darkness swallowed him again._

Carson jumped up the moment Colonel Sheppard's heart rate spiked. He was not supposed to wake up; he had been in recovery for less than three hours. Just when Carson entered the room an alarm sounded, indicating that the Colonel had fought the breathing tube.

Carson saw his hand twitch. He bent over the man, trying to rouse him further. He saw John's eyes move under the lids.

"Colonel, can you open your eyes for me?" he lightly tapped John's cheeks, but the machine settled back down and Carson knew that John was out again. He checked John's vitals and after that rubbed his sternum. This time John reacted, squirming away from the pain. "Thank god" he said more to himself than to Marie who stood on the other side of the bed.

"Okay we need to adjust his meds, when his ox level stays like that we can start to wean him off life support."

XOXOXOXOXO

Carson stayed rooted next to John's bed; even though he knew that his team probably had heard the ruckus, he wanted to see if the Colonel was further improving before telling his team. He checked John's vitals every ten minutes, knowing it was overkill, but after the first shock he wanted to be sure. After another fifty minutes, John was extubated and sleeping peacefully. Carson finally found it in him to face John's team, by now Elizabeth and Colonel Caldwell had joined them.

"What happened?"

"What's going on?"

"Is Sheppard okay?"

All floated simultaneously to him so he held up his hand to stop further comments.

"He is getting better," he announced. "He briefly regained consciousness, though he didn't open his eyes and it was very brief, he most definitely was awake. He is out of the coma."

The relief was palpable.

"We also were able to take him off life support."

"Thank god!" Rodney stated his head falling back on the pillow.

XOXOXOXOXO

The first thing John became aware of was a constant clicking, next came the steady beep of a heart monitor. The beeping sped up, announcing that he was back in the land of the living. A hand settled on his shoulder.

"John, can you open your eyes for me?"

John tried to oblige, wanting to know what was going on and how his team was doing. God, why was he so tired?

"Come on John; show me that you want to wake up."

_'Hell I'm trying'_ John thought starting to frown. After what felt like an eternity his eyes snapped open, just to drop close again. _Great, what a show of confidence!_ John tried again, but this time he went for just open a little. Carson swam into his view.

"Good to have you back, Colonel" John frowned again.

"Been somewhere doc?" he mumbled at least that was what he had planed to asked, what came out was more a garbled whimper.

He felt an ice chip being placed in mouth.

"That's going to help. Your throat will be sore for some time."

John nodded but kept quiet, he closed his eyes again, reveling in the soothing feel of the ice.

XOXOXOXOXO

John kept his eyes closed, but felt much more awake today. A few days had passed since he had woken that first time and he still tired easily. He opened his eyes again and took in his surroundings. Rodney lay in bed next to him watching him like a hawk. Ronon sat in a chair at the foot of his bed and Teyla occupied the other bed.

They had explained to him what had happened and had asked if he could remember how he had gotten hurt, but he couldn't, he had been so confused and irritated by the whole episode, he just hadn't realized.

A yawn slipped past John's resolve. He had been enjoying listening to his team for the past hour, but now he could barely hide his exhaustion.

"Rest, John," Teyla suddenly said. "We will be here for a little longer anyway."

"Yeah, sleep and don't worry. I'm fine." Rodney stated, surprising John.

He smiled briefly and his eyes closed on their own accord.

It was good to be back home.

The end


End file.
